


Promise

by litmilkovich



Series: Double Trouble [2]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Foster Care, Happy Ending, Multi, theres some emotional distress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 04:05:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13966974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litmilkovich/pseuds/litmilkovich
Summary: The three times Mickey and Noel wound up in foster care, and the way things worked out.





	Promise

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for waiting for this au to come along. Believe it or not, it's one of my favorites. This ones a quick read and it jumps around a bit. Enjoy!

The first time Terry fucked up was when Mickey and Noel were five, hardly old enough to remember the time they were left alone in their home without the heat or water bill paid. All Mickey remembered was telling his siblings that everything would be okay, without even having a clue. Sure enough, a neighbor called DCFS and they were all put into foster care. Everyone was split up except for Mickey and Noel, and Iggy and Colin.  
  
The second time Terry fucked up was when they were ten. Mickey didn’t remember much about it, but he remembered the crying. The fear in Noel's face when he thought they'd never go back home. He never understood Noel's attachment to that fucked up shithole. Mostly, though, he remembered the crying.  
  
Mickey hated when Noel cried. First of all, it was annoying, and second of all, he hated when he couldn't make it better. Since Terry fucked up bad enough to land them in the hands of DCFS (again), it was enough to have Noel in shambles. He wasn't really sure why, any place was technically better than their house. Although, he did miss their shitty shared bedroom and the way he'd often wake up to Noel cuddled against him after having a nightmare.  
  
Now, however, it was something completely different. Mickey was usually pretty good at keeping himself together, especially when Noel wasn't. They sat together on the two chairs side by side in their case worker's office, who had stepped out to find some paperwork and hopefully find someone to take two kids at once. Mickey thought for a brief moment that they could probably sneak out, but deemed it a shitty idea.  
  
Noel sat beside him, hugging himself as he rocked back and forth in his seat with thick tears falling down his cheeks; tiny chest heaving with sobs.  
  
" _Wha—_ ," he coughed and sniffled, "what if we don't get placed together like—," _hiccup_ , "like last time?" He lamented miserably.  
  
Mickey had always been shit at comforting people, and he mostly blamed Terry and his lack of compassion for anyone but himself; but for Mickey, it was different with Noel. Maybe it was because they were twins, he wasn't sure.  
  
He stood up from his seat and stood in front of his twin, grabbing his shoulders with both hands to shake him gently, but hard enough to get him to look at him. "Hey, big baby. Look at me in my face, okay?" He said firmly.  
  
Noel snuffled for a moment before using his palms to wipe his damp face. "I'm lookin'," he coughed and met Mickey's gaze.  
  
Mickey looked back, his twin's eyes red and wet with tears he was still probably going to cry. At least he stopped for a moment. He cupped Noel's face, ignoring the way his cold cheeks felt damp against his palms. "You remember what I said last time dad fucked up?"  
  
Noel sniffed, nodding and let his eyes fall to the carpet. "You—," _hiccup_ , "you said 'it's gonna be okay'," he mumbled clear enough to be heard, returning his gaze back to his twin.  
  
Mickey smiled and pat his twin's cheek gently, "and _who_ is the big brother here?" He asked with an arched eyebrow. He felt his chest swell when Noel cracked a smile.  
  
"You," he rolled his eyes a laughed softly. "But only by like—," he laughed again, " _five_ minutes," he said with faux indigence.  
  
Mickey beamed at his brother, rubbing his shoulders before crossing his arms over his chest. "And if our piece of shit dad has taught us anything, it's that we have to respect and listen to our elders," he teased and punched Noel's shoulder playfully.  
  
Noel laughed loudly, rolling his eyes and kicking his leg out to kick Mickey in the thigh. When his laughter petered out, Mickey sat back beside his brother.  
  
"I'm scared," Noel said quietly, almost a whisper. He peered over at Mickey, who rubbed his eyes.  
  
"We won't be in the system for that long, dad may be a piece of shit but he still takes care of his own," he said with only a hint of uncertainty.  
  
"I know, but—," Noel was interrupted by their case worker coming back.  
  
She had a stale look on her face, taking a seat and breathing deeply before she frowned at them. “Unfortunately, we were unable to find a home willing to take in twins. I tried, boys, I really did,” she stated regretfully and saw the way Mickey’s anger spiked and Noel’s eyes welled with tears.  
  
“What the fuck? He can’t— he needs me! Put us together, I don’t care if it’s the shittiest one you got! Just.. _do_ something!” Mickey shouted, fear present under the mask of anger.  
  
Noel devolved into hysterics when two large men came in the room, one grabbing him and the other taking hold of Mickey in a bear hug that left them helpless.  
  
“Mickey!” Noel sobbed and writhed uselessly in the grasp of the too strong man.  
  
“Let me go you fucking _bastard!”_ Mickey screamed and tried punching and kicking to no avail. He grunted helplessly and shouted for his brother. “Noel, listen to me! Everything’s gonna be fine. Dad— dad’s gonna get us back, I promise!” He was crying now too, but for different reasons than Noel. He didn’t know how to keep his brother safe if he wasn’t there with him.  
  
He was dragged out the door with the image of his little brother’s petrified face scorched in his brain.

-

The third time Terry fucked up was when they were fourteen. It had something to do with drugs, and that was all Mickey knew before he and Noel were thrown into a youth shelter by their case worker while the rest of their siblings went into foster care, again. Mickey was getting real tired of his dad's shit. He had no clue how he kept getting them back. He blamed the system. 

  
Noel had learned the hard way to keep a stiff upper lip in shelters like this. There was no sympathy for kids who showed weakness. He'd suffered a black eye and a bruised side on his first night, and since then; Noel learned to keep quiet and stuck to Mickey's side.  
  
It took all in Mickey to not go after the punks who beat down his brother, but if his goody two shoes brother learned one thing on the Southside; it was that you don't snitch. Mickey respected that.  
  
Mickey already knew a fair amount of people in the shelter, so he deemed them protected enough for the time being. However, there was always going to be a group of assholes who they needed to steer clear from; and Mickey would kill for his family, that's one thing he was sure of, no questions asked.  
  
Noel sat and played checkers with some kid, probably a little younger than the rest of them while Mickey played poker with some of the guys he knew. One of them was a alien looking, freckle faced firecrotch with a haircut that made his head look like an egg. Mickey ignored the way his stomach felt lighter when he saw the redhead jut out his chin at a loss.

-

By the time they were sixteen, DCFS stopped giving a shit about the Milkoviches because people stopped reporting them, and the department had bigger fish to fry than a abusive family on the Southside with a few too many kids. It was always futile because Terry somehow knew how to work the system. 

  
Mickey kept in contact with the freckled alien, Ian, and they started banging on the side. Noel eventually found a Northside girl, Layla, to spend time with. He was hardly ever home during the summer and Mickey couldn’t really blame him.  
  
Ian lived only a few blocks from him, and he found himself always caught up at the Gallagher house for one reason or another, either to bang or somehow get roped into babysitting Ian’s siblings, sometimes even stay for dinner. Mickey insisted they weren’t boyfriends.  
  
At eighteen, Mickey managed to get his GED and land a job at a mechanic on the Southside. He didn’t think he’d ever leave, despite his “fucked for life” attitude. Gallagher somehow managed to weasel his way into Mickey’s life and convince him on moving in to the Gallagher house after his dad got arrested, again. He pulled his weight and Fiona even started making his lunches.  
  
Noel moved in with Layla as soon as he graduated high school, desperate to get the fuck out of the Southside and Mickey, again, couldn’t blame him. His attachment to the Southside, to Ian and even the rest of the Gallaghers, was probably going to keep him there forever. He couldn’t find it in himself to care.  
  
He knew the bond he had with his brother was forever, even if they began two polar opposite lives together. Fucked for life didn’t have shit on them anyways.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave feedback and requests for this au.


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